It appears that true integration will remain elusive until New Delhi stops treating Kashmir as a security variable to be managed.
Author: Frank M. Everett
At the start of 2026, Southeast Asian stock markets looked poised for a good year. The Jakarta IDX Composite Index was hitting new highs every day. Global index provider FTSE Russell was preparing to upgrade Vietnam to secondary emerging market status, a move likely to attract billions of dollars of institutional funds. Tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on Liberation Day sent Malaysian and Singaporean markets stumbling in early 2025, but by the start of the new year both were trending higher. We’re now almost halfway through 2026 and stocks in the region have been on a wild ride.…
Trump’s slush fund intended to pay those who committed crimes while trying to help him overturn an election he lost is dead. After having the fund’s implementation blocked by a federal court on Friday, the DOJ announced:The Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the Gun Fund ruling issued by the United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, in which the Court stated that under no circumstances can the Department of Justice proceed with the recently established Gun Fund to compensate for the enormous abuse, harm, and hatred unfairly shown to so many. This Fund was open…
Hours after delivering the speech at the first Asia Security Forum, Vietnam’s top leader, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam, said in an interview that Vietnam “does not approach [its] relations with the great powers through the prism of security.” For 13 years within the Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), Hanoi has built its regional position on a non-traditional security agenda that has continued to expand. This program began with Nguyen Tan Dung’s 2013 keynote speech at the SLD and reached its full expression in To Lam’s speech in 2026. The balance between the United States and China…
At the end of May, the National Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan announcement that the number of tourists to the country in the first four months of 2026 increased by 29 percent compared to the same period last year, with the total number of tourists exceeding 4 million. The latest figures are part of a broader trend that has transformed Uzbekistan into one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in Central Asia. Last year, 11.7 million people visit the country, an increase of 46.8 percent, or 3.7 million more, than in 2024. Even if the statistics indicate that tourists come from more…
Recent court order temporarily blocks DOJ’s weaponization of government funds that aim to pay those who committed crimes to help Trump in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election was an even bigger deal than initially reported. The temporary order blocking the fund gave members of Congress from both parties who oppose it time to work together to kill it. While it is true that Congress cannot close the already authorized DOJ settlement fund that was diverted for Trump’s purposes, Congress can do something else.Congress can leave the fund in place, but use its financial power and budgetary authority to…
Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, announced that his coalition government would provide parents with $312 for the birth of a third child and $416 for a fourth child, as part of the state’s proposed population management policy. This policy marks a decisive shift in the language of family planning toward what the government now calls “population care.” The concern behind this decision is not entirely unfounded. Andhra Pradesh’s fertility rate has fallen, with the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, which covers the period 2019-2021, estimating the state’s total fertility rate at 1.7…
European businesses in China may have reached an inflection point, with business confidence showing signs of improvement for the first time in five years. The last investigation published by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (European Chamber) found that 68 percent of respondents felt “doing business in China had become more difficult” – a high number, but with a notable drop of 5 percentage points year-on-year. Likewise, the proportion of companies reporting increased politicization fell 5 percentage points, to 47 percent. Other indicators also developed positively: optimism about the two-year profitability outlook rose to 17 percent, while the…
On May 8, Pakistan Interior Minister and Cricket Board Chairman Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi arrived in Dhaka for a two-day visit. His visit coincided with the Bangladesh-Pakistan cricket series, but it was not just focused on sports. It also conveys distinct political and strategic messages. In the South Asian political landscape, relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan have always been both complex and emotionally charged. A political betrayal – Pakistan’s refusal to transfer power, ignorance of the massive Bengali mandate in the 1970 elections and memories of the genocide of the 1971 Liberation War – persisted and kept bilateral relations frosty…
The Philippine Senate has convened an impeachment court that will try Vice President Sara Duterte, accused of betrayal of public trust for alleged misuse of confidential funds, accumulation of unexplained wealth and involvement in a plot to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. What should we expect from the Senate and can it conduct a credible and speedy trial amid the intense bickering of its members? Under Philippine law, it is the House of Representatives that initiates impeachment cases and the Senate that acquits or convicts impeached officials. Duterte was impeached twice by House members. The first impeachment in February 2025…